FireengineeringresearchandpostgraduateprogrammeslaunchedatStellenboschUniversity

By: DrRichardWalls(StellenboschUniversity)

StellenboschUniversityhasestablishedtheFireEngineeringResearchUnit(FireSUN)whichisthefirstuniversityresearchgroupfocussedonfiresafetyinAfrica.Theteam,locatedwithintheDepartmentofCivilEngineering,willnowbeofferingpostgraduatedegrees(MEngandPhD)infiresafetyengineering(FSE)andstructuralfireengineering(SFE).ThisrepresentsanexcitingdevelopmentforfiresafetyengineeringinSouthAfrica,andAfricaasawhole.Thisarticleoutlinestheresearch,educationalofferingsandindustrialprojectscurrentlyunderwaybytheteam.

Postgraduateprogramme

In2018fundinghasbeengenerouslyprovidedbytheLloyd’sRegisterFoundation(LRF)fortheestablishmentofthefirstphaseofafully-fledgedpostgraduateprogrammeinfireengineeringatStellenboschUniversity,withaviewthattheeducationalcompetencyestablishedcanbeexpandedintotherestofAfrica.WiththegrowthoftheAfricanpopulationandthelocalmining,manufacturingandresourceprocessingindustriestheassociatedfirerisksofthecontinentarerapidlyincreasing,alongwiththeneedforfireengineeringprofessionals.Tothisendamastersinengineering(MEng)andPhDdegreesinfireengineeringhavebeendevelopedtotrydeveloptheengineeringcapacitythecontinentneeds.

Table1summarisesdetailsregardingthepostgraduateprogramsandtopicsbeingoffered.ThefundingreceivedfromtheLRFhasallowedthecreationoftwotaughtmodulesinFSE,namely(a)firedynamics,and(b)structuraldesignforfiresafety.Thesemoduleswillberolledoutin2019and2020,andwillbeavailabletobothstudentsandindustrypractitioners.ExistingmoduleswithintheDepartmentofCivilorMechanicalEngineeringwillalsobeutilised.Astheresearchteamgrowsandmorefundingisobtainedadditionaltaughtmodules,suchasperformance-basedfiredesign,willbedeveloped.Themainworktobeundertakenbymastersstudentswillbeintheformofafullresearchthesis,withtopicsbasedonthevariousareasdiscussedinthisarticle,andtosuitthecompaniesgettinginvolvedwiththeprogram.TwofullPhDbursariesarenowavailable,sponsoredbytheLRF,andlocalorinternationalstudentscanapplyfortheseusingthecontactdetailsattheendofthisarticle.

Table1:PostgraduateprogrammesinfiresafetyengineeringavailableatStellenboschUniversityin2019

Masters(MEng) PhDMEngthesiswithtopicssuchas:- Firedynamicsanddesign- Structuralfireengineering- Informalsettlementfiresafety- FiremodellingCoretaughtmodules- Firedynamics- StructuralfiredesignAdditionaltaughtmodulesforstudentsfromacivilengineeringbackground:- Advancedconcretedesign- AdvancedsteeldesignAdditionaltaughtmodulesforstudentsfromamechanicalengineeringbackground

CurrentPhDresearchisfocussedoninformalsettlementfiresafety,structuralfiredesignforindustrialfacilities,petrochemicalplantfiresafety,andstructuralfiredesigningeneral.Twobursaries/scholarshipsareavailableforPhDpositionsinfireengineering,starting2019:- Structuralfiredesign:Simplified

designandanalysisofbuildings- TestingandCFDmodellingoffire

safetyinterventionsforinformalsettlements

- Advancedthermodynamics*MEngpositionscanbereservedbycompaniesthroughthesponsorshipofbursaries

Fullbursaryprovidedforthe3yearprogram.Contactthegroupformoreinformation.

In2019MEngpositionsareavailabletostudentsfromacivilormechanicalengineeringbackground.Duetothelimitednumberofpositionsavailablethepositionswillfirstbeavailabletobereservedbycompaniesthatcanprovideabursaryfortheirownstudenttodothedegree.Pleasecontacttheresearchgroupifyouareinterestedintheprogram.

Currentresearch

Asanygoodfireengineerwilltellyou–fireengineeringisanincrediblybroadfieldwithalargevarietyofspecialisttopicssuchasfiredynamics,suppressionsystemdesign,evacuation,structuralfiredesign,emergencyresponse,detectionandmuchmore.Thecurrentresearchgrouphasundertakenavarietyofinvestigationsinareassuchasinformalsettlementfiresafety,structuralfiredesign,industrialstructuraldesign,petrochemicalfacilityfiresafetyandmore.Someofthebiggerprojectsarediscussedbelow.

InformalsettlementfiresafetyInformalsettlementfiresoccurregularlyandaffectmillionsofpeopleinSouthAfrica.Worldwideapproximatelyonebillionpeopleliveininformalsettlements(alsoknownasslums,shantytowns,favelas,orghettos).In2017StellenboschUniversityandtheUniversityofEdinburghstartedonaprojectcalledImprovingtheResilienceofInformalSettlementstoFire(IRIS-Fire).Thisprojectfollowspreviousfull-scale“shack”firetestingatStellenbosch[1].TheIRIS-Fireteamisbusyundertakingresearchworksuchas:

• Full-scalefiretestingofinformalsettlementswhereupto30-50dwellingswillbeburntinasingleexperiments.Figure1showsanumberofteststhathavebeenconductedbythegroup.

• Modellingoffirespreadbetweendwellings• Determiningfuelloadsfromextensivesurveys• Utilisingsatelliteimageryfortrackingpreviousfires

Inadditiontothisworktheteamhasbeencloselyinvolvedwiththetestingandroll-outofsmokealarmsinsettlementsacrosstheWesternCape,asdiscussedfurtherbelow.

Figure1:Full-scaleinformalsettlementfiretestsconductedbytheFireSUNteam

StructuralfiredesignStructuralfiredesignisatopictypicallynotwellunderstoodbymoststructuralengineersinSouthAfrica.Itisbelievedthatmanystructuralengineersaresigningoffbuildingsasbeingsafeinthecaseoffire,wheninfacttheyarenot.However,therearecodifiedwaysofensuringthatsteel,concrete,timberandcompositestructuresaresafeinthecaseofalargefirebreakingout.

TheFireSUNteamhasbeeninvolvedwithvariousresearchprojectsonstructuralfiredesignsuchas:

• Thermalandstructuralfireanalysesofaninnovativecellularsteelbuilding,asshowninFigure2andFigure3,developedbytheSAInstituteofSteelConstruction(SAISC)[2,3]

• Developmentofasimplifiedmethodforanalysingmulti-storeystructuresinfire[4]• OngoingworkisrelatedtothedevelopmentoffireengineeringdesigncodesforSouth

Africa,especiallyintermsofstructuralsteelworkandtheupcomingversionofSANS10162-1[5–7].

• Designofindustrialandpetrochemicalplantsinthecaseoffire(ongoingPhDproject)

Figure2:Small-scalefurnacetestingandfiniteelementthermalanalysesofaflooringsystemshowingtemperaturesafter60minutesofstandardfireexposure[3]

Figure3:FiniteelementanalysisofacellularbeamstructuralsystemdevelopedbytheSAInstituteofSteelConstructionexposedtoa60minutefire[2]

Corporateresearch

Itisimportantforanyresearchgrouptostaycloselylinkedtoindustryandbeinvolvedincorporateengineeringresearch.ThefireengineeringteamatStellenboschhasundertakenvariousresearchprojectsforcompanies,including:

- DevelopmentofarationalstructuralfiredesignprocedurefortheVoidcondeckingsystem.ThishasinvolveddevelopingdesignguidelinestoensurethatconcreteslabsbuiltwiththeVoidconsystemwillsatisfyvariousfireratings.

- Acurrentinvestigation,sponsoredbySantam,lookingatthe1000homesthatwereburntdownduringtheKnysnafiredisasterin2017.Itisbeinginvestigatedhowhomescouldbemademoreresilientonthewildland-urbaninterface(WUI),suchthatfewerhomeswillbelostinfuturefires.

- Testingofsuppressionsystemsbasedonfull-scaletests.- WorkingalongsidetheWesternCapeDisasterManagement,Fire&Rescueservicestoinvestigate

howsmokealarmscanbeusedininformalsettlements.IntheWallacedeneTRAsettlementasmokealarmwasinstalledinvirtuallyeveryhomeandmonitored.Realactivationsoccurredina

numberofhomes,resultinginlivesbeingsaved,withanoverviewofwherefiresoccurredshowninFigure4.Anexcitingpromotionalvideo/documentaryhasbeenproducedontheprojectwhichcanbefoundat:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z5SkDZtA3U&t=7s.

Figure4:FollowingtestingdoneatStellenboschUniversity,manythousandsmokealarmshavenowbeenrolledoutacrosstheWesternCapeininformalsettlements.ThefigureaboveshowswhereactivationsoccurredintheWallacedeneTRAsettlementaftertheinstallationofasmokedetectorineverydwelling[8]

TheFireSUNTeam

AlthoughthefireengineeringteamatStellenboschUniversitywasonlyfoundedin2017ithasgrownrapidly.It2019itwillhaveapproximately1post-doctoralresearcher,5PhDs,8MEngstudents,and5honoursstudentsworkingonresearchprojects.PicturesofcurrentandpastteammembersareshowninFigure5.TheteamisledbyDrRichardWalls,aconsultingstructuralengineer,whonowlikesburningthingsdown.

Figure5:TheFireSUNteam(fromtoplefttobottomright):DrRichardWalls(teamleader),DrCharlesKahanji(researcher),AntonioCicione(PhD),DineoNgwenya(PhD),NjabuloZimba(PhD),JanekeVolkmann(MEng),JaleelClaasen(MEng–AECOMFirebursary),JuniorFourie(MEng),StefanLoffel(MEng–AECOMFirebursary),MichaelKloos(MEnggrad.2017)andHendrigMarx(MEnggrad.2017)

Furtherinformation

Ifyouwouldlikeanyadditionalinformationregardingthepostgraduateprogrammes,currentresearch,industryconsultingoranyotheraspectsyoucancontacttheFireSUNteamatfire@sun.ac.za.Fundingandtechnicalpartnersarebeingsoughttoestablishafully-fledgedfireengineeringprogram.Pleasefreetocontactusinthisregard.

References

[1] R.Walls,G.Olivier,R.Eksteen,InformalsettlementfiresinSouthAfrica:Fireengineeringoverviewandfull-scaletestson“shacks,”FireSaf.J.91(2017)997–1006.doi:10.1016/j.firesaf.2017.03.061.

[2] M.Kloos,Aninvestigationintothestructuralbehaviourofanovelcellularbeamstructureinfire,StellenboschUniversity,2017.http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/102683.

[3] H.Marx,Thermalbehaviourofanovelcellularbeamstructuralsysteminfire,StellenboschUniversity,2017.http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/103350.

[4] R.S.Walls,Abeamfiniteelementfortheanalysisofstructuresinfire,PhDThesis,StellenboschUniversity,2016.http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/100331.

[5] R.S.Walls,C.Viljoen,AcomparisonoftechnicalandpracticalaspectsofEurocode3-1-1andSANS10162-1hot-rolledsteelworkdesigncodes,CivEngrSAfr.58(2016)16–25.

[6] R.S.Walls,C.Viljoen,H.deClercq,J.Retief,AcriticalreviewoncurrentandproposedstructuralfireengineeringcodesforsteelworkinSouthAfrica,in:S.O.Ekoluetal(Ed.),Constr.Mater.Struct.,IOSPress,Johannesburg,2014:pp.1134–1140.

[7] R.S.Walls,M.Botha,TowardsastructuralfireloadingcodeforbuildingsinSouthAfrica,in:InsightsInnov.Struct.Eng.Mech.Comput.-Proc.6thInt.Conf.Struct.Eng.Mech.Comput.SEMC2016,2016.

[8] P.Zweig,R.Pharoah,R.Eksteen,R.S.Walls,InstallationofSmokeAlarmsinanInformalSettlementCommunityinCapeTown,SouthAfrica–FinalReport,2018.